Leave It In the Octagon
- September 19
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assistance to SPikeTV.com for information that
contributed to this recap.
"Leave It In The Octagon"
As the fighters recap the Joe vs. Marcus fight, one
thing is clear; Marcus made a big mistake choosing to
fight Joe. Joe is great at takedowns and Marcus never
stood a chance. Coach Hughes thinks it was a bad
coaching mistake made by Coach Franklin. I agree. Joe
just let him try and outbox him, and then BOOM! He took
him down and pounded into him chopped meat.
Matt continues to taunt Jorge by telling him that its
obvious the only way he will fight is if Matt calls him
out and forces him to fight. All the mental games are
starting to get under Jorges skin. One day this will
come back to haunt Jorge.
Team Hughes head to the YMCA for training. Matt reveals
he is concerned about the status of his heavyweights.
They are all injured. Mike has a cut on his head and Dan
and Tom are both nursing knee injuries. Being from Team
Miletich, Matt thinks injuries are part of the sport and
that fighters should suck it up and get through it. In
my opinion, injuries have been the key point in this
series. We have lost 3 fighters to injuries.
The heavyweights compete in another Xtreme Right Guard
Challenge: Rock em Sock em. The objective is to remove
the other teams socks. (Ok.) Team Hughes wins six socks
to zero and the fighter selection is once again in
Matts hands. So I guess Team Franklin is sockless in
Vegas.
Dana White, owner of the UFC, announces that the fight
will be between Tom and Rashad. Matt thinks Rashad is
vulnerable because he has a cut over his eye and Matt
questions his heart. Rich thinks Matt is definitely
underestimating Rashad. Dana agrees with Matt and thinks
Tom can take Rashad out.
Team Franklin adopts an unusual training practice,
showing up at the gym in their tighty whiteys. When
Rich sees his fighters standing at attention in their
underwear he is disappointed that he didnt get the
tighty whitey memo. Was he being sarcastic in this? I
guess they were trying to see who the best man was :P
Rich thinks Rashad is the sleeper in his heavyweight
class Rashad isnt too concerned that hes the smaller
heavyweight but he knows he has to bring his A game
into the octagon.
Back at the house, Rashad cuts Toms hair. Tom confides
in Rashad that he has some serious concerns about
risking any more damage to his knee. He has a job and
family to go back to when the competition is over.
Again, a lot of injuries have been taking a toll this
season.
It is the night before the fight and the guys are bored,
so they decide to play a game of hide and seek. Sammy
explains it was either that or setting something on
fire. Sammy is a pyromaniac.
Tom and Rashad both opt to stay out of all the mischief
and decide to hang out together in the bedroom instead.
They enjoy a little pre-fight night chatter. Smart.
Its fight day. Both Tom and Rashad are confident they
have what it takes to win this battle. Both fighters
enter the octagon ready to win and advance to those 2
contracts.
Round one begins and almost a full minute goes by before
Tom and Rashad make any contact. They were feeling each
other out. Tom seems to be doing just enough to defend
himself against Rashads attacks and he is not making
any aggressive moves himself. The round ends with
nothing
really happening.
Round 2 looks promising as
Tom catches Rashad in a choke. But Rashad slowly works
his way out of the hold. Rashad throws his knees again
and Tom doesnt do much to counter them. Then Tom makes
some half-hearted attempts to punch Rashad. Tom doesn't
seem to be in the fight.
In Round 3, Rashad gets Tom on his back but he cant
maintain the dominant position. Rashad attempts another
attack but Tom manages to fend it off. Tom and Rashad
spend a lot of time clenched together against the fence.
Tom manages to elbow Rashad but doesnt follow with any
more attacks. Tom doesn't seem to be taking any
aggressive stance at all.
As the fight ends, Dana feels that Tom did nothing the
entire fight and this is the worst fight he has ever
seen in his whole life. I agree. This was horrible.
Its no surprise when Rashad is declared the winner by
unanimous decision. Dana explains that its not about
every fight being the most exciting fight, its about
seeing two guys out there who really want it. He hopes
that Rashad will show more heart in future fights.
Rashad didn't show me much in the fight.
Matt is extremely upset that Tom did not give 100% out
there. Tom is disappointed with his performance in the
fight. He knows this is the worst performance hes ever
given but feels, nonetheless, that this whole experience
was a good learning opportunity. Learning yes, but if
you want to be "The Ultimate Fighter"...you have to want
it bad enough. In this fight, he showed nothing.
Tune in next week for the next episode of "The Ultimate
Fighter 2"! And remember to watch Ultimate Fight Night
Live! on October 3, at 8PM on SpikeTV! |